Hezekiah, king of Judah

Got a letter from Sennacherib. Took it up to the house of the LORD and spread it out in front of him. LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim: you alone are God of every kingdom on earth. Their gods were only wood and stone, made by human hands. Save us, so every kingdom knows that you alone are the LORD.

I’m ill, and Isaiah came and told me to put my affairs in order, because I’m going to die. I turned my face to the wall and prayed. Remember, LORD, how I’ve been faithful to you with all my heart. And I cried hard.

Replying to @king.hezekiah

Asked for a sign. Isaiah said: should the shadow go forward ten steps or back ten? Going forward is easy, I said. Make it go back. It went back ten steps on the stairway of Ahaz.

Replying to @isaiah

What the LORD has said through you is good.

First month of my first year as king. Opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. Called the priests and Levites into the square: get yourselves ready, and get every bit of filth out of the Holy Place. Our ancestors turned their backs on him and shut these doors. I’ve decided to make a binding promise to the LORD, so his anger turns away from us.

The books of Chronicles@booksofchroniclesThey were his downfall, and all Israel’s. Ahaz cuts up the things from the house of God, shuts the doors of the house of the LORD, and puts up altars on every street corner in Jerusalem.

Passover in Jerusalem, and everyone’s invited. To all of you left in Israel, who escaped the kings of Assyria: come back to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and he’ll come back to you. Don’t be stubborn like your ancestors. The LORD your God is kind and merciful. He won’t turn away from you if you come back to him.

Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid or discouraged by the king of Assyria and his huge army. There’s more with us than with him. All he’s got is human strength. We’ve got the LORD our God, to help us and fight our battles.

Read it. Took it up to the LORD’s temple and spread it out in front of him.

Sennacherib, king of Assyria@sennacheribTo Hezekiah, king of Judah. Don’t let the God you trust fool you into thinking Jerusalem won’t fall to me. You’ve heard what the kings of Assyria have done to every country. Did their gods save them? Where is the king of Hamath now? The king of Arpad?

LORD of armies, God of Israel, you alone are God over every kingdom on earth. You made the heavens and the earth. Open your eyes and see. Listen to what Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. It’s true, Assyria has flattened all these countries and thrown their gods on the fire. They weren’t gods. Just wood and stone that people made. Now save us, so every kingdom on earth knows that you alone are the LORD.

Replying to @isaiah

Turned my face to the wall and prayed. LORD, remember how I’ve lived for you, faithfully, with my whole heart, doing what’s right in your eyes. And I cried and cried.

Replying to @isaiah

I asked what the sign would be that I’d go up to the LORD’s temple again.

Wrote this down after I got better. When I was ill I thought: this is it, in the prime of my life, off to the grave. I’ll never see the LORD in the land of the living again. I chirped like a swallow. Moaned like a dove. My eyes wore out from looking up.

Replying to @king.hezekiah

It was for my own good I went through all that. You loved me out of the pit and threw all my sins behind your back. The grave can’t thank you. The living can, like I’m doing today.

Replying to @isaiah

What you’ve told me from the LORD is good.